Taylor Fritz and Ryan Harrison both scored seeded upsets on Tuesday at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel. Three of the eight seeds in the tournament are out in the opening round.
Cilic is Highest Seed to Fall
Three seeds fell by the wayside in Acapulco on Tuesday. Third seed Marin Cilic went down at the hands of qualifier Ryan Harrison. The Marseille runner-up looked a bit fatigued on the quick turnaround and travel from Sunday's finals loss to Nick Kyrgios. That allowed Harrison to get the jump on him early as the American broke Cilic twice in the opening set en route to a 6-3 win in the opener. Cilic would storm back in the second set by securing an early break in game two that would help him equalize with a 6-3 set win. The third set would see Cilic stumble in his opening service game as he let Harrison see a pair of break chances. Harrison would convert the second to take a 2-0 lead. The American would lose just three points in his final three service games to close out the finale 6-2 and score one of his best wins in years.
Harrison was dominant when he was able to get his first serve in play. He would win 30 of 36 points. He was also solid in winning 60 percent of his second serve points. That was an area where he took advantage of Cilic's struggles. The third seed was forced into 31 second serves with Harrison claiming 21 of those points. Cilic also was only able to save one break point out of five on his serve.
Fritz Claims First ATP 500 Victory
Taylor Fritz continued his rise in the rankings with a huge victory on Tuesday. The 18-year-old is headed into the Top 100 after upsetting 8th seed Jeremy Chardy 6-4, 3-6, 6-3. Fritz was able to navigate through some service inconsistencies as he landed just 48 percent of his first serve. That left him to put 40 second serves in play, but he won 27 of those points. Despite the inconsistent first serve, Fritz only faced three break points. The qualifier would save two of three. Chardy meanwhile was under consistent pressure with 12 break chances on his serve. Fritz had difficulty in converting, but got the two he needed to get the win. He broke Chardy in the opening game of the match and then got the Frenchman again in his first service game of the final set. The win ranks as Fritz's best to date as he beats his highest ranked player (29) and scores his first ATP 500 match win.
Other Seeded Results
Elsewhere, most seeds had better nights compared to Cilic and Chardy. Top seed David Ferrer had no problem in dispatching of John Millman 6-4, 6-2. Fourth seed Dominic Thiem successfully transitioned from clay to hard courts with a somewhat shaky 7-6 (3), 6-3 victory over Damir Dzumhur. The Austrian was broken twice in the opening set, but battled back both times to force a tiebreak.
Fifth seed Bernard Tomic exacted revenge on Rajeev Ram after losing to the American at Delray Beach last week. This time, the Aussie won relatively easily 7-5, 6-3 to move into round two. Sixth seed Ivo Karlovic was an upset victim. Karlovic dropped to 0-4 on the season when he was forced to retire in the second set against Aljaz Bedene. The Croatian trailed a set, but was leading 2-1. The final singles match of the night session saw 7th seed Grigor Dimitrov get off to a winning start. Dimitrov conquered Denis Kudla 7-5, 6-1. Dimitrov draws Donald Young in round two.
Querrey Continues Win Streak to Lead Other Round One Winners
Sam Querrey remained red hot as he crushed Dudi Sela 6-2, 6-0. The American only landed 50 percent of his first serves, but it did not matter as Sela was hapless on his own serve, Querrey won 19 of 20 first serve points and 10 of 20 on second serve. Sela would win just 23 of 53 service points overall. Elsewhere, Dmitry Tursunov scored his first win ATP-level since June 2014. The Russian downed Sam Groth 6-4, 3-6, 7-5. Alexandr Dolgopolov set up a second round clash with David Ferrer after beating Steve Johnson 7-5, 7-6 (4). Dolgopolov slammed 11 aces and saved all five break points in the win. Ferrer and Dolgopolov will open play on Wednesday on Cancha Central to kick off second round play.
Wednesday Highlights
Other highlight matches scheduled for Wednesday include a Memphis Open rematch with second seed Kei Nishikori set to battle Sam Querrey. Nishikori battled back from a set down to beat Querrey in the semifinals in Memphis. It marked his fourth straight win over the American in the last two years. Both Americans who sprung upsets on Tuesday will be back on court. Ryan Harrison goes against Illya Marchenko, while Taylor Fritz takes on Victor Estrella Burgos.